The Fallen Soldiers' Remains Collection Team, part of the Ho Chi Minh City High Command, commenced excavation at 7h on an elevated area within Le Thi Rieng park, Hoa Hung ward. This site is situated approximately 100 m from a mass burial trench identified earlier.
Authorities utilized an excavator to remove the topsoil layer to a depth of about one meter. Upon detecting unusual signs, the excavation transitioned to manual methods, leading to the discovery of four fallen soldiers' remains. Efforts to expand the search area are ongoing.
This marks the second location where fallen soldiers' remains have been discovered since Ho Chi Minh City initiated search operations at the park earlier this july.
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The newly discovered mass grave of fallen soldiers. Photo: Dinh Van |
Previously, authorities collected 100 remains from a mass burial trench spanning about 30 m. This trench extended from the memorial stele house area to near the fish pond adjacent to the park's commemorative house. This location was identified based on historical documents, witness testimonies, and prior ground-penetrating radar surveys.
Le Thi Rieng park was formerly known as Do Thanh Cemetery, also referred to as Chi Hoa - Saigon Cemetery. By cross-referencing documents, witness accounts, and ground-penetrating radar survey results, authorities pinpointed several areas exhibiting unusual signs for excavation.
From 4/7 until now, the search area near the commemorative house has been expanded to over 100 square meters, with excavations reaching depths of 2-3 m. An excavator removed the upper soil layer to about 1,5 m, after which manual digging began when signs of remains appeared. Most of the discovered remains were found in multiple layers within the 30 m long burial trench.
Among the remains collected, one case included documents bearing the name Huynh Van Quen. Initial verification results indicate that the fallen soldier belonged to Long An Battalion one and participated in the battle of Chu Y Bridge (in the former District 5 and District 8 areas) during the Tet Mau Than General Offensive and Uprising of 1968.
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The locations of three trenches in Le Thi Rieng park suspected to be mass graves of soldiers from the 1968 Mau Than campaign. Graphics: Khanh Hoang |
The search operation at Le Thi Rieng park is part of the 500-Day-Night Campaign, which aims to commemorate the 80th anniversary of War Invalids and Martyrs' Day. The campaign runs from 15/3/2026 to 27/7/2027, with the goal of collecting approximately 7,000 fallen soldiers' remains and identifying 18,000 biological samples.
Dinh Van
